Manatee Magic forward Madison Bradley fires a shot during the Magic's 1-0 loss to West Pasco on Feb. 11.

Ken Trent leaves lasting legacy: Helping Island kids

by Kevin Cassidy
Islander Correspondent

The Island community lost an icon when Ken Trent passed away on Feb.
9 at the age of 71. Trent, who was born in Lynchburg, Va., moved to Anna
Maria Island in 1969 and lived here until he and Alice, his wife of 51
years, moved to the mainland about two years ago.

Mr. Trent made
his mark coaching kids in various sports at what was
known as the Anna Maria Youth Center - later
to evolve into the present community center. He coached
basketball, baseball and soccer, and helped start the
county's first youth soccer program at the center.

Trent was one
of the pioneers of the Manatee Area Youth Soccer Organization
and spent many years volunteering as a soccer referee.

Scores of Islanders
who grew up playing sports at the center fondly recant
stories of Trent's generosity and dedication
to the kids of Anna Maria - it comes up whenever
get-togethers bring former teammates and friends together.

Later in Mr.
Trent's life, you could see that same enthusiasm
when he attended his grandsons' - Nick
and Brad Gregrich - Little League games at G.T.
Bray Park. He was very proud of the many accomplishments
on the field of play from the two boys, now 17 and
18 years of age.

Mr. Trent treated
each of the many boys and girls that he came in contact
with through his years of volunteer work the same - like
one of his own.

Trent is survived
by his wife Alice, daughter Debbie Gregrich and husband
Butch, and their two sons, Nick and Brad.

Farewell Mr.
Trent. It will be a long time coming before the Island
finds someone with your energy, dedication and generosity
when it comes to helping kids.

Islanders help Magic to second-place finish

Islanders Ally
Titsworth, Martine Miller and Christina Papazian are
key players on the U13 Manatee Magic girls' soccer
team that has compiled an impressive 8-3-1 record this
season.

Titsworth is
a starter at outside midfield, Miller is one of the
leading scorers from her forward position, and Papazian
anchors a defense that has allowed the fewest goals
in the league.

The Island girls
and the rest of their Magic teammates dropped a heartbreaking
1-0 decision to West Pasco on Feb. 11 at the G.T. Bray
soccer fields that dropped them into second place in
the standings.

The Magic were
the better team throughout the majority of the game,
but failed to capitalize on several good scoring chances.

The first
came in the 10th minute of the first half when the
Magic received consecutive corner kicks. Phoebe Leo
served the ball into the goal area, where Titsworth
settled and fired a left-footed shot that just went
wide.

Early in the
second half, West Pasco received a free kick 20 yards
out, but Papazian was equal to the task with a strong
save.

The Magic came
right back upfield when Nicole Dixon passed forward
to Leo, who outran the West Pasco defender up the left
side, cut back and ripped a shot on goal. The Pasco
goalie made the save, but the ball laid prone on the
ground for what seemed like an eternity. Madison Bradley
crashed the goal, but the West Pasco goalie somehow
gathered the ball in to make the save.

The Magic continued
to maintain possession with Bradley, Miller, Leo and
Titsworth all getting loose on nice runs, only to be
turned away by the strong West Pasco defense.

West Pasco finally
broke through with a little help from the strong wind.
The Magic defense had some difficulty clearing the
ball away against the wind. They cleared it outside
to the 30-yard line where a West Pasco player kicked
it in the general direction of the Magic goal. The
ball floated toward the far corner of the goal where
Papazian attempted to tip it away, but she couldn't
get enough of the ball, which then trickled into the
goal along with Papazian for a 1-0 lead.

The Magic fought
hard to get the equalizer, but to no avail.

Their second-place
finish for the league is in the books, but the Magic
girls can look forward to either Region C or State
Cup action.

They head into
the cup season with a balanced offensive attack led
by Bradley, Leo, Erin Mulrine and Miller. On the defensive
side of the ball, they have Papazian covering for anything
that manages to elude the strong defense of Catherine
Byrne, Jordan Ponto, Nicole Dixon and Ashley Nelson.
Other team members include Titsworth, Melissa DeGroat,
Kristin Ferreri, Mary Isiminger, Nicole Marcinko, Julia
Pignanelli and Shelby Raye.

Congratulations
and good luck during the upcoming matches.

Basketball season winding down

The Anna Maria
Island Community Center's basketball season is
winding down and teams are either battling for the
top spot or simply jockeying for seeding position in
what is the last week of regular season play.

The Premier Division
took a weird turn when Publix suffered a forfeit loss
to last place Anna Maria Glass & Screen on Feb.
11, which put Island Real Estate in first place. Publix
and IRE will meet on Feb. 15 to decide the number-one
seed for the playoffs.

Division I has
Homes of Distinction and A Paradise Realty tied for
first, but they won't play again unless it's
in the championship game in the playoffs. Homes of
Distinction takes on winless Air & Energy on Feb.
17, while A Paradise battles Longboat Observer on the
same date.

In Division II,
Island Family Physicians goes into the final week holding
a one-game lead over Duncan Real Estate. IFP takes
on Harcorn Corp., while Duncan has a game against Saleaway
Cruises, so it's doubtful the playoff seedings
will change.

Dips Ice Cream
has two dangerous games remaining in the regular season
and holds a two-game lead over Kumon. Dips takes on
Beach Bistro on Feb. 16 before ending its regular season
with a battle against Kumon on Feb. 18. If Dips loses
both games, Kumon will emerge as the top seed when
the playoffs begin.

Horseshoe news

George McKay
and Bob Mason overcame wind, rain and the team of Debbie
Rhodes and Rod Bussey to win the Feb. 4 horseshoe competition
at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. McKay and Mason won
the championship match 21-7 to culminate a day where
22 players showed up despite adverse weather.

Play gets under
way at 9 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday at the Anna
Maria City Hall pits. Warm ups begin at 8:45 a.m. followed
by random team selection. There is no charge to play
and everyone is welcome.

Key Royale golf news

Judy Crowe carded
a one-over 33 to win flight AA during the Feb. 7 low-net
ladies' golf competition at Key Royale Club.
Bobbie Lindstrom finished one shot back to claim second
place, while Sara Falk and Penny Williams both had
35s to tie for third place.

Joyce Brown and Cindy Miller both fired even-par
32s to claim bragging rights among flight A golfers.
Lorraine Manning was a shot back to finish in third
place, while Nancy King and Grace Sayles finished in
a tie for fourth with a pair of 34s.

Marian Mulroy's
29 was good for first place in flight B. She finished
four shots ahead of Sally Keyes and five ahead of Rose
Slomba, for second and third place respectively.

Doleres Jorgenson
shot an even-par 32 to win flight C with Nell Bergstrom
coming in second with a 35 and Markie Ksiazek and Chertie
Kinerk tying for third with 36.

Teresa Schuett
carded a one-over 33 to win flight D, two shots ahead
of Teddy Morgan and four shots better than Lucille
Cooney and Dee O'Brien.

Get breaking news

Sign up to receive breaking news alerts
via e-mail. We'll send you a notice when the news and classifieds
appear online every week, before the print edition hits the streets.